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Three forest department officials had a narrow escape when a wild tusker began to chase them during a driving operation at Hosur near Krishnagiri district on Friday.

The wild tusker menacingly chasing a cow that is grazing at a farm in Hosur on Friday

Coimbatore:

“While heading to his farm for work, Mallappan, aged 75, encountered an elephant, which began to chase him. However, the villager managed to escape with some injuries,” said a forest department staff.

On receiving information, a team of forest department staff led by Forest Range Officer C Murugesan, forest guard M Murugan and anti-poaching watcher Rajkumar went in a jeep and urged villagers to stay indoors as jumbo driving operations were under way. Meanwhile, another team of forest department staff was involved in chasing the elephant back into the forests.

The tusker, which was moving towards Jawalagiri reserve forests, suddenly changed its track and entered the village road, blocking the jeep of the forest department staff. The driver’s attempt to take a reverse went in vain as the jeep’s wheels got stuck in heavy slush. As the elephant came charging, the forest department staff alighted from the vehicle and took to their heels and escaped with minor injuries.

Yet to recover from the shock, Murugan said,” As the jumbo came chasing, we ran for a while and lay down on the ground to escape its fury. It then moved away without harming us.”

The forest department has been tracking the jumbo and efforts are on to drive it back into the forests.